GE’s New Fridge With Hot Water Dispenser Is a Cool Idea

Kitchen appliances are exploding with technology. Refrigerators now have apps and Wi-Fi to help you plan your meals, coordinate your family’s calendar and even print coupons.

But if access to apps on your fridge isn’t your thing, perhaps a nice, hot cup of tea is? GE has developed the first refrigerator that can dispense filtered hot water right from the door.

Michael Mattingly, GE’s product manager for the new Café French door refrigerator tells Mashable that GE wants to make your fridge door “the one-stop shop for cold and hot water needs.”

Any parent who’s juggled a baby in one arm while trying to make baby formula knows how frustrating it can be to get the water the right temperature. With the hot water dispenser, Mattingly says, “there’s confidence in getting an accurate temperature every time.”

That’s because there are four pre-programmed temperature settings you access using the on-screen menu. The temperature choices range from 90 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, with the digital display guiding you through the process.

Choose 90 degrees if you just need warm water or 150 degrees if you’re looking to make some hot cocoa. If you really want to heat things up, there’s 170 degrees for brewing tea and 185 gets you some hot soup.

Sure, you could put a mug of water in the microwave, but Mattingly tells us using the pre-set controls ensures the temperature is uniform throughout.

You’ll access the hot water the way you currently get cold water and ice from the dispenser. For safety reasons, activating it will be just a little more difficult. To dispense water you’ll have to push in the dedicated knob and then turn it counterclockwise.

GE worked to build the hot water dispenser into the outside of the fridge, without affecting the temperature on the inside. To do that, it basically has its own little hot water heater that starts up when you turn it on. That way, you’re only using energy when you need it. The tank can hold 20 ounces of water but only dispenses 10 ounces at a time. The tech design of the hot water dispenser is patent pending.

Other cool things about the fridge: a filtration system that claims to remove 98 percent of key pharmaceuticals, and a visual indication of what the temperature is in each drawer. For instance, the meat drawer’s color is red, while the produce drawer is green. The colored LED lights lets you know if something is amiss.

That all adds up to a price tag of $2,999. To see it in action, take a look at the video below.

Samsung already introduced a fridge with an in-door SodaStream dispenser; what else would you like to see integrated into your refrigerator?